[MOPO] Categorically Insane

[JRS MoviePosterBid.com]

Fred   Susan's right, you missed your calling as a stand-up comedian. I've been chuckling all day over the image you suggested about all those people out there "who are scratching their heads, trying to figure how to load a half sheet into their DVD player."   But, yes, ARGH!  Bruce confirms what I have feared -- eBay still plans to eliminate all sub-categories and put all movie posters in one gigantic category. Every poster for the last 100 years all in the same category -- and all of the reprints and refrigerator magnets along with them. I checked eBay just now. In the US "originals" main category there are almost 20,000 listings this week. That doesn't count the international categories or the official reprint categories or the "misc" categories.   When they do this incredibly stupid thing in 4 or 5 months, it will mean perhaps 30,000 to 40,000 "movie poster" listings per week -- all lumped into one mega-category!   Look, folks, I've been saying this for a long time -- but some of you think I'm just saying it because I operate MoviePosterBid.com -- but that's not it. The truth is:   eBay has gone insane! Whoever is running the operation now has no idea what the hell they are doing. They are making decisions based on ill-conceived marketing surveys, on what Wall Street thinks it wants them to do, and mostly following through on their own weird-ass idea of turning eBay into some kind of electro-Wal-Mart Super Center.   They have already done this to the "books and magazines" category. Go over there and take a look at that mess. You can't browse for anything there any more. Dealer's sales are way down. They just did the same thing to the video categories, as Fred has reported. Soon, they will destroy the ability to casually look thorough the movie poster listings as well.   I'm not saying it makes sense -- it obviously makes no sense whatsoever -- but they ARE doing it and they are scheduled to do it to the movie poster categories "in early 2005".   And, just to sweeten the deal, they will also be raising their rates. Again. You know it's coming, folks, don't pretend. It's been almost two years since the last big one. It's due.   So, now you know why I really started www.MoviePosterBid.com -- I saw the writing on the wall almost a year ago because the category where I auction (books and magazines) was one of the first to be hit with this idiocy new format.  I didn't start MoPoBid to make money -- because I could have invested my time and money in just about anything else, including a gerbil farm,  and stood a better chance of getting a good return on my investment. I did it as a public service to this hobby-industry I love being a part of because I saw that it was needed then -- and because it will be needed in the near future even more.   I figured if I started it before things on eBay went completely bonkers that people would join in and build it up into a strong and viable supplement to eBay BEFORE the one-sheets hit the fan. A few sellers have shared that vision and concern and committed to the goal -- but not that many, not hardly enough, and that's the honest truth. Apparently most of you are going to wait until eBay completely screws up your operations before you give MoPoBid a try. OK, that's cool... that may work... maybe. We'll be there for you when it happens. But maybe... just maybe... it would be a good idea to get a head start on things... start small on MoPoBid now and help build up the traffic on the site... get the word out to your private list of past eBay customers that there is "another place" in town and that you're listing some stuff there that they might want to slip over and check it out... ? Help build the traffic on the site now, while there's still time to make an orderly transition?   ... I'm thinking maybe you want to get into the lifeboat now and start helping to lower it into the water and get it ship shape BEFORE the boiler explodes?   Just a suggestion.   -- JR   Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.